From producer Guillermo del Toro and director Jorge Gutierrez comes an animated comedy with a unique visual style. THE BOOK OF LIFE is the journey of Manolo, a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an incredible adventure that spans three fantastical worlds where he must face his greatest fears. Rich with a fresh take on pop music favorites, THE BOOK OF LIFE encourages us to celebrate the past while looking forward to the future

First time director Martín Yernazian leads an all-star cast in this heartwarming dark comedy about what turning twenty-five means to a struggling actress in Los Angeles. With a disconnected father, her live-in boyfriend struggling financially, and surviving in a complex of noisy neighbors who call themselves artists, her life could not seem bleaker. Spanning the course of one day, Amelia finds guidance and wisdom in the most curious places: a movie star, a photographer, casting directors, unemployed actors, plus-size sex shop owners, psychics, and a cross-dressing neighbor, all who lead her down the winding road of acceptance.

Following Amelia, Wolff signed a deal with director Christian Filippella for a North American release of Silver Case, starring Oscar nominee Eric Roberts and Vincent DePaul. The world of Hollywood scheming reaches a nasty low when a powerful producer (Roberts) hatches a plan to undermine the future success of his shady archrival. His plot begins with the delivery of a silver briefcase, which soon goes missing, setting off a chain of events. The Senator engages his best team to locate the package but doesn’t count on the tenacity of two thugs who have the mysterious prize in their possession.

Directed by Robert Rodriguez from a screenplay by Kyle Ward and based on a story by Marcel Rodriguez and Robert Rodríguez, MACHETE KILLS is the sequel to the 2010 hit film MACHETE – which has built a devoted legion of fans since its release – and is the second film in a trilogy. The film is produced by Robert Rodriguez, along with Aaron Kaufman and Iliana Nikolic through their QuickDraw Productions banner, as well as Sergei Bespalov of Aldamisa Films, Alexander Rodnyansky of AR Films, and Rick Schwartz of Overnight Films.

In MACHETE KILLS, Danny Trejo returns as ex-Federale agent MACHETE, who is recruited by the President of the United States for a mission which would be impossible for any mortal man – he must take down a madman revolutionary and an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has hatched a plan to spread war and anarchy across the planet.

ActionFest has announced its first wave of films and its competition jury for the festival’s return to the beautiful Carolina Cinema in Asheville, NC this April 12th – 15th. The only international film festival devoted exclusively to action cinema and its unsung heroes, ActionFest 2012 promises to be four days of adrenaline junkie heaven with a mind-melting combination of the best in contemporary action cinema and classics of the genre, as well as a world class stunt show, exciting panels and tributes to action legends, all in the heart of one of America’s coolest cities.

As previously announced, ActionFest 2012 opens with the Regional Premiere of Michael J. Bassett’s Solomon Kane starring James Purefoy (Rome, Ironclad) in the beautiful Diana Wortham Theatre in downtown Asheville . The closing night film will be the Cannes selection Wu Xia from acclaimed director Peter Chan (The Warlords) and starring internationally recognized martial arts actor and fight director Donnie Yen (Hero, Iron Monkey, Ip Man) on Sunday April 15th at the historic Fine Arts Theatre in downtown Asheville. Additionally, the following films were announced today:

Bad Ass
World Premiere
Director: Craig Moss, USA

Danny Trejo (Machete) plays a decorated soldier who returns from Vietnam only to be shunned by society. Forty years later, when he protects an elderly man from a pair of skinheads, he becomes a hero, but his good fortune takes a turn for the worse when his best friend is murdered and the police won’t do anything about it. Also starring Charles Dutton and Ron Perlman.

The Lost Bladesman
North American Premiere
Director: Alan Mak, Hong Kong/China
From the director of Infernal Affairs (remade by Martin Scorsese as The Departed) comes the story of legendary hero Guan Yu (Donnie Yen, Wu Xia, Hero) in his journey to slay six powerful generals.

The Day
Regional Premiere
Director: Douglas Aarniokoski, USA/Canada
Open war against humanity rages. Five survivors are lost and on the run. The pursuit is relentless, ammunition supplies are dwindling and the battle is everywhere. This is a 24hr look into their lives. Fight or die. Starring Shawn Ashmore (X-Men), Ashley Bell (The Last Exorcism), Dominic Monaghan (Lord of the Rings; Lost) and Shannyn Sossamon (A Knight’s Tale)

Headhunters
Regional Premiere
Director: Morten Tyldum, Sweden
Based on the international best-seller by Jo Nesbo, Askle Hennie stars as an accomplished corporate headhunter who moonlights as an art thief. When he steals a valuable painting owned by a former mercenary, he get more than he bargained for, and must set off on a heart-stopping race against time to save his reputation and his life.

Goon
Regional Premiere
Director: Michael Dowse, Canada
The most outrageous sports comedy in years stars American Pie’s Seann William Scott as a bouncer labeled an outcast by his brainy family. After overcoming long odds to lead a team of under performing misfits to semi-pro hockey glory by beating the crap out of everything that stands in his way, he must have a knock’em’down confrontation with a famous enforcer (Liev Schreiber).

God Bless America
Director: Bobcat Goldthwait. USA
Comedian and filmmaker Bobcat Goldthwait (World’s Greatest Dad) takes a caustic spin on Bonnie & Clyde with this dark comedy starring Joel Murray as a terminally ill everyman on a mission to rid society of its most repellent citizens, joined by an unlikely (and very willing) accomplice in 16-year-old Roxy (Tara Lynne Barr).

Jury Selection
When it comes to selecting the best films of this year’s fest, we knew we had to assemble a jury who knows action cinema inside and out, and we are proud to present this kick-ass jury for ActionFest 2012:

– Eric Vespe – “Quint” of the popular movie fanatic website Ain’t It Cool News
– Mitch Davis – General Director of Montreal’s legendary Fantasia Film Festival, the largest genre film festival in North America
– Borys Kit – film writer for The Hollywood Reporter and founder of Heat Vision, THR’s popular genre blog.
– Dan Guando – Senior Vice President of Acquisitions at The Weinstein Company
– Marc McCloud – Owner of Orbit DVD and co-owner of TV Eye Video Emporium in Asheville, NC.
– Sadie – DJ on “Mountain Mornings With Carson & Sadie” and “Everything That Rocks” on 105.9 the Mountain

Student Filmmakers Competition
Think you’re the next Peckinpah, Woo, or Bay? Time to prove it by entering the inaugural ActionFest Student Filmmakers Competition! Dust off that screenplay, power up your camcorder, and get the gang together because this is your chance to see your vision on screen and win great prizes. Visit www.actionfest.com/competitions/student-film/ for more information.

30 Second of Action Returns!
Back by popular demand is The 30 Seconds of Action Challenge where film makers, stunt teams, martial art schools, and all aficionados of action in between, professional or otherwise, showcase their talent by writing, choreographing, and shooting thirty seconds of head-busting action. Three submissions will be selected and shown before screenings at ActionFest. Each finalist will receive two VIP badges for this year’s festival. The ActionFest 2012 Jury will review the finalists, and award one filmmaker a grand prize! Details coming soon! For more information www.actionfest.com/competitions/30sec-challenge/

Special Guests
As previously announced, ActionFest will also honor legendary stuntman Mickey Gilbert (Ben Hur, The Wild Bunch) with the Lifetime Achievement Award and pioneer in women’s MMA and Haywire star Gina Carano with the Chick Norris (Best Female Action Star) Award, and J.J. Perry (Warrior, Haywire) with the ActionFest Fight Choreographer of the Year Award.

Wild Bunch has picked up International rights to Academy-Award winner Geoffrey Fletcher ’s directorial debut VIOLET & DAISY. The film had a rapturous response at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival when it screened as a work-in-progress, and Wild Bunch now plans to launch it at AFM to sell international rights. CAA is the domestic sales agent on the project. Fletcher also wrote the original screenplay of the film and produced along with Bonnie Timmermann. The Magic Violet and GreeneStreet Films production was Executive Produced by John Penotti and James Skotchdople, and stars Academy Award nominee Saoirse Ronan, Alexis Bledel, and James Gandolfini. The film was co-produced by Steve Kempf.

VIOLET & DAISY is the whimsical story of a teenager’s surreal and violent journey through New York City . It follows Oscar-nominee Saoirse Ronan (Hanna, Atonement, The Lovely Bones) as Daisy. With her volatile partner-in-crime Violet, played by Alexis Bledel (Sin City, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Gilmore Girls), the two young assassins face a series of opponents, including one unusually mysterious man (James Gandolfini), in a life-altering encounter. The film, written and directed by Oscar-winning screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious), also stars Oscar-nominee Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Danny Trejo.

“Contagion” follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days. As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself. At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart.

“Dolphin Tale” is inspired by the amazing true story of a brave dolphin and the compassionate strangers who banded together to save her life. Swimming free, a young dolphin is caught in a crab trap, severely damaging her tail. She is rescued and transported to the Clearwater Marine Hospital, where she is named Winter. But her fight for survival has just begun. Without a tail, Winter’s prognosis is dire. It will take the expertise of a dedicated marine biologist, the ingenuity of a brilliant prosthetics doctor, and the unwavering devotion of a young boy to bring about a groundbreaking miracle—a miracle that might not only save Winter but could also help scores of people around the world. The real Winter, who plays herself in “Dolphin Tale,” today serves as a symbol of courage, perseverance and hope to millions of people—both able and disabled—who have been touched by her remarkable story of recovery and rehabilitation.

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A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS
In 3D and 2D in select theaters on November 4

The new “Harold & Kumar” comedy picks up six years after the duo’s last adventure. After years of growing apart, Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) have replaced each other with new friends and are preparing for their respective Yuletide celebrations. But when a mysterious package mistakenly arrives at Kumar’s door on Christmas Eve, his attempt to redirect it to Harold’s house ends with the “high grade” contents—and Harold’s father-in-law’s prize Christmas tree—going up in smoke. With his in-laws out of the house for the day, Harold decides to cover his tracks, rather than come clean. Reluctantly embarking on another ill-advised journey with Kumar through New York City, their search for the perfect replacement tree almost blows Christmas Eve sky high.

Drama. “J. Edgar” explores the public and private life of one of the most powerful, controversial and enigmatic figures of the 20th century. As the face of law enforcement in America for almost fifty years, J. Edgar Hoover (DiCaprio) was feared and admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career and his life.

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HAPPY FEET TWO
In 3D and 2D in select theaters and IMAX on November 18

The sequel to “Happy Feet,” the Academy Award®-winning animated smash hit, “Happy Feet Two” returns audiences to the magnificent landscape of Antarctica in superb 3D. Mumble, The Master of Tap, has a problem because his tiny son, Erik, is choreo-phobic. Reluctant to dance, Erik runs away and encounters The Mighty Sven—a penguin who can fly! Mumble has no hope of competing with this charismatic new role model. But things get worse when the world is shaken by powerful forces. Erik learns of his father’s “guts and grit” as Mumble brings together the penguin nations and all manner of fabulous creatures—from tiny Krill to giant Elephant Seals—to put things right.

“New Year’s Eve” celebrates love, hope, forgiveness, second chances and fresh starts, in the intertwining stories told amidst the pulse and promise of New York City on the most dazzling night of the year.

Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) has always been the smartest man in the room…until now. There is a new criminal mastermind at large—Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris)—and not only is he Holmes’ intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil, coupled with a complete lack of conscience, may actually give him an advantage over the renowned detective. When the Crown Prince of Austria is found dead, the evidence, as construed by Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan), points to suicide. But Sherlock Holmes deduces that the prince has been the victim of murder—a murder that is only one piece of a larger and much more portentous puzzle, designed by Professor Moriarty. The cunning Moriarty is always one step ahead of Holmes as he spins a web of death and destruction—all part of a greater plan that, if he succeeds, will change the course of history.

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EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE
In theaters on December 25 (Limited) / January 20 (Wide)

Oskar (Thomas Horn) is convinced that his father (Tom Hanks), who died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, has left a final message for him hidden somewhere in the city. Feeling disconnected from his grieving mother (Sandra Bullock) and driven by a relentlessly active mind that refuses to believe in things that can’t be observed, Oskar begins searching New York City for the lock that fits a mysterious key he found in his father’s closet. His journey through the five boroughs takes him beyond his own loss to a greater understanding of the observable world around him.

On the surface, Marissa Cortez Wilson (Jessica Alba) has it all…married to a famous spy hunting television reporter, a new baby and intelligent twin step kids. But in reality, trying to mother Rebecca (Rowan Blanchard) and Cecil (Mason Cook), who clearly don’t want her around, is her toughest challenge yet. Also, her husband, Wilbur (Joel McHale), wouldn’t know a spy if he lived with one which is exactly the case – Marissa’s a retired secret agent.

Marissa’s world is turned upside down when the maniacal Timekeeper (Jeremy Piven) threatens to take over the planet and she’s called back into action by the head of OSS, home of the greatest spies and where the now-defunct Spy Kids division was created. With Armageddon quickly approaching, Rebecca and Cecil are thrust into action when they learn their boring stepmom was once a top agent and now the world’s most competitive ten year olds are forced to put their bickering aside and rely on their wits. With a little help from a couple of very familiar Spy Kids, Carmen (Alexa Vega) and Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara), and some mind-blowing gadgets, they just may be able to save the world and possibly bring their family together while they’re at it.

Fifteen-year-old Oliver Tate has two big ambitions: to save his parents’ marriage via carefully plotted intervention and to lose his virginity before his next birthday. Worried that his mom is having an affair with New Age weirdo Graham, Oliver monitors his parents’ sex life by charting the dimmer switch in their bedroom. He also forges suggestive love letters from his mom to dad.

Meanwhile, Oliver attempts to woo his classmate, Jordana, a self-professed pyromaniac who supervises his journal writing – especially the bits about her. When necessary, she orders him to cross things out. Based on Joe Dunthorne’s acclaimed novel, Submarine is a captivating coming-of-age story with an offbeat edge.

Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten-year old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they go door-to-door arresting Jewish families in the middle of the night. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard – their secret hiding place – and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released. Sixty seven years later: Sarah’s story intertwines with that of Julia Jarmond, an American journalist investigating the roundup. In her research, Julia stumbles onto a trail of secrets that link her to Sarah, and to questions about her own romantic future.

Dirty Girl is the story of Danielle (Juno Temple), the dirty girl of Norman High School in Norman, Oklahoma, circa 1987. When Danielle’s misbehavior gets her banished to a remedial class, she is paired on a parenting project with Clarke (Jeremy Dozier), an innocent closet-case with no friends. Danielle is determined to get to California to find the father she’s never met, and Clarke is desperate to escape being sent to military school by his homophobic dad. Together, the mismatched misfits light out for California, and discover each other and themselves through a funny and serendipitous friendship.

On the surface, Marissa Cortez Wilson (Jessica Alba) has it all…married to a famous spy hunting television reporter, a new baby and intelligent twin step kids. But in reality, trying to mother Rebecca (Rowan Blanchard) and Cecil (Mason Cook), who clearly don’t want her around, is her toughest challenge yet. Also, her husband, Wilbur (Joel McHale), wouldn’t know a spy if he lived with one which is exactly the case – Marissa’s a retired secret agent.

Marissa’s world is turned upside down when the maniacal Timekeeper (Jeremy Piven) threatens to take over the planet and she’s called back into action by the head of OSS, home of the greatest spies and where the now-defunct Spy Kids division was created. With Armageddon quickly approaching, Rebecca and Cecil are thrust into action when they learn their boring stepmom was once a top agent and now the world’s most competitive ten year olds are forced to put their bickering aside and rely on their wits. With a little help from a couple of very familiar Spy Kids, Carmen (Alexa Vega) and Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara), and some mind-blowing gadgets, they just may be able to save the world and possibly bring their family together while they’re at it.

Every family has one: the sibling who is always just a little bit behind the curve when it comes to getting his life together. For sisters Liz (Emily Mortimer), Miranda (Elizabeth Banks) and Natalie (Zooey Deschanel), that person is their perennially upbeat brother Ned (Paul Rudd), an erstwhile organic farmer whose willingness to rely on the honesty of mankind is a less-than-optimum strategy for a tidy, trouble-free existence. Ned may be utterly lacking in common sense, but he is their brother and so, after his girlfriend dumps him and boots him off the farm, his sisters once again come to his rescue. As Liz, Miranda and Natalie each take a turn at housing Ned, their brother’s unfailing commitment to honesty creates more than a few messes in their comfortable routines. But as each of their lives begins to unravel, Ned’s family comes to realize that maybe, in believing and trusting the people around him; Ned isn’t such an idiot after all.

Here is the trailer for 20th Century Fox new action film MACHETE. Opening in theaters September 3, 2010. The movie is directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis , starring Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba, Robert De Niro, Michelle Rodriguez, Lindsay Lohan, Cheech Marin, Jeff Fahey, Don Johnson and Steven Seagal

He looked like just another day laborer from the streets, and the perfect fall guy for a crooked political assassination. But he turned out to be Machete (Danny Trejo), A legendary ex-federale with a deadly attitude and the skills to match.

Machete is the latest movie from writer/director Robert Rodriguez and is co-directed by Ethan Maniquis.